Method and apparatus for bathing

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a swiveling seat for a bathtub or bathtub/shower combination. The rotating seat has a support structure that locates the seat securely above, and on the sidewall, of a bathtub. The seat comprises an upwardly facing planar surface that rotates 360 degrees around a vertical axis and has a downwardly extending support structure for engaging the sidewall of a bathtub. Before bathing a person may sit on the seat with their legs positioned outside the bathtub, lift their legs, and then swivel the seat about 180 degrees so that the legs may be lowered inside the bathtub. After bathing a person then lifts his feet, swivels back around the 180 degrees, and places his feet on the floor outside the bathtub.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention has to do with bathroom apparatus that can be used to safely move a person into and out of a bathtub/shower area. Most accidents occur within the home and by far the most serious accidents occur in the bathroom area. The material of the bathtub is usually a very hard porcelain material that is slippery when wet and also is hard enough to inflict fractures or very serious soft tissue injuries when one falls or slips on such material.

The possibility of slipping and falling in the bathtub area is a danger to which all people are exposed and increases for people that have their physical senses and abilities impaired. Physically impaired people include the elderly, the non-ambulatory, invalids, children, and others, who for one reason or another are bathtub/shower area challenged. For such a person there can be great difficulty in entering and leaving a combination bathtub/shower area where the side of the bathtub poses an obstacle to be overcome. Once a person has entered the tub area the very act of standing in a shower or bathtub for even a short period of time can be extremely tiring. For these reasons, there is a long felt need for a method and apparatus that can aid an individual into and out of the bathtub area for bathing, to seat the person while bathing, and for transporting the person out of the bathing area when finished.

A common sign that someone is bathtub/shower challenged may be the handrail on the walls in or around the bathtub or shower stall or walkers sitting adjacent to the bathing area. Handrails are a great help to the infirm when entering, bathing and leaving the bathtub/shower area. Other special devices have been constructed to aid the infirm in such endeavors and these devices are usually readily apparent when one views the bathroom area.

Devices that aid the infirm in entering and leaving the bathing area must also offer no danger to the user and must be completely reliable and safe in their use. Strength of materials is important along with simplicity of operation when designing and constructing such devices. In addition the device should also be easy to install and maintain.

As mentioned above the bathroom is the type of room that can be expected to be used by the invited guests in ones home. For that reason the devices that one uses for the impaired person should not be overly cumbersome, awkward, unsightly, or hard to clean. Preferably the devices will not be unsightly, not be in the way of normal use of the bathroom. In addition to be clean they must be simple to operate, easy to clean, and capable of being stored out of the way when not in use. Easily removable device that are also portable would offer several obvious advantages.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for bathing which comprises a support structure with side of the uppermost portion of a sidewall of a bathtub. A seat is located above the support structure and has a swivel mechanism connecting the seat to the support structure. Legs extend downwardly from the support structure for engaging the floor outside the bathtub and the floor of the bathtub so as to hold the support structure stabile while in use. The legs may also extend downwardly along each side of the bathtub sidewall and have clamping mechanism that clamp the support structure to the sidewall of the bathtub when the seat is in use.

According to the present invention there is also disclosed a method of bathing a person in a bathtub. The method comprises the steps of providing a horizontally rotatable seat directly above a sidewall of a bathtub so that a person may sit down on said seat with their legs extending toward the floor outside of the bathtub. A person is then seated facing away from the bathtub with their legs extending downwardly from the seat. The person may then position their legs so that the legs are above the uppermost portion of the bathtub sidewall. Once the legs are so positioned, the seat is then rotated horizontally about a substantially vertical axis so that the feet are positioned above the inside of the bathtub. The person may then lower their feet so as to extend toward the inside-bottom of the bathtub. While so seated the person is then bathed. Once the bathing is finished the person may then have their legs and feet raised so that they are above the height of the sidewall of the bathtub. In such a position the person may then be rotated so that their legs and feet are positioned above the floor outside the bathtub. The feet may then be lowered to touch the floor of the bathroom.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to move any person into and out of a bathtub.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to aid an invalid into and out of a bathtub.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a safer and easier way to move a physically challenged person into and out of a bathtub.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable apparatus to aid a person to move into and out of a bathtub.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a swivel seat on a side of a bathtub so a person may for an invalid to be seated outside a bathtub and then lift their feet and swivel so as to be located inside a bathtub.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a removable swivel seat that aids in helping a person into and out of a bathtub.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the environment and apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bathtub and apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the apparatus according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

What is shown in FIG. 1 is a swivel seat arrangement according to the present invention. This seat arrangement 50 has an upper seat 52 thereon with a support structure 54 that clamps onto the sidewall 22 of the bathtub 20. The sidewall 22, of the bathtub 20, rises from the floor 18 and the support structure 54 has opposing sides that extend down over the upstanding sidewall 22 of the bathtub 20. A clamp 60 is adjustably maneuvered to pull the support structure 54 into firm and abutting contact with the sidewall 22 of the bathtub 20.

Shown more clearly in FIG. 2 is the swiveling or rotational seat arrangement 50 as described in FIG. 1. The rotational seat arrangement 50 has a seat 52 that is mounted on the support structure 54. The support structure 54 has two opposing side arms 56 and 58 that have friction pads 70 mounted on the inter-most surfaces of the arms 56 and 58. Arms 56 and 58 are adjustable by the clamp means 60 so that the arms 56 and 58 may move towards one another or away from one another so as to provide a space for the up standing sidewall 22 of the bathtub to fit between the arms 56 and 58.

What is shown in FIG. 3 is the seat arrangement 50 having an upper swivel seat 52 rotationally mounted on the support structure 54. The support structure 54 has the side arms 56 and 58 that extend down over the side of a bathtub 22. The side arms 56 and 58 have friction pads shown at 70 so that they may engage the sidewalls of the bathtub 22 to hold the seat 52 in place. The clamp 60, by rotating it clockwise or counterclockwise, can advance the arms 56 and 58 either towards one another or in opposing directions from one another. In this manner the seat 50 may be placed down over the bathtub side 22 until the support structure 54 abuts the upper part 73 of the bathtub wall 22. Once the support structure 54 abuts the upper portion 73 clamp 60 may be rotated clockwise or rotated in such a fashion so that to advance sidewalls 58 and 56 toward one another thereby ensuring that the friction pads 70 engage the sidewall 22 of the bathtub and hold it in place. Seat 52 is a rotational seat and is mounted in a rotational arrangement upon the support structure 54 so that when one sits on the seat the person may have their feet outside of the bathtub on the floor 75 as shown outside the bathtub wall 22 and when seated they may raise their feet off the floor 71 and rotate the seat 52 so that their legs are now inside the cavity 77 of the bathtub.

What is shown in FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the seat arrangement 50 according to the present invention. The upper seat 52 is shown along with the clamp 60, side arms 56, and 58, and the friction pads 70. Clamp 60 has a cooperating member 75, which has threads 77 thereon, and the cooperating member 75 slides through the hole or perforation 79 that is formed in the arm 56. The member 75 would extend on to the hole 81, which preferably also is threaded so as to accept the threads 77 of the cooperation member 75. The upper part 80 of arm 58 fits inside the upper part 82 of arm 56 so that rotation of clamp member 60 rotates the threaded member 75 and pulls the arms 56 and 58 together when rotated in one direction, and will push them apart when rotated in another direction. The rotational arrangement for seat 52 is shown by the mounting plates 84 and 86 with the threaded connectors 88 shown connecting the swivel support base 84 to the upper part 82 of arm 56. The intermediate plate 86 then abuts in a rotational manner the seat 52 so that seat 52 rotates on the plates 84 and 86 that are mounted on the top part of 82 of arm 56. Other threaded fasteners are shown at 90.

What is shown in FIG. 5 is the upper seat 52 as it sits on the upper part 82 of the arm 56.

What is shown in FIG. 6 is the upper seat 52 again having the opposing arms 58 and 56 with the clamp 60 shown with the threaded member 75 extending through and engaging the threaded perforation 81 in the arm 58. The support plates 84 and 86 are shown supporting the swivel seat 52 and the friction pads are shown fully engaged to the wall 71 of the bathtub.

What is shown in FIG. 7 is the swivel bath apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The apparatus 10 has a seat 12 that is mounted upon a swivel bearing shown at 200 and has a support structure shown at 202. The dependent legs 56 and 58 have an inter engaging upper structure shown at 210 that has a portion 220 that is seated at the top of 222 of the bathtub side wall 22. The clamp handle shown at 60 and the clamp 56 and 58 are firmly abutted to the sidewall 22 at portions 57 and 59 

1. A bathing apparatus which comprises (a) a support structure with leg means thereon for mounting downwardly over each side of the uppermost portion of a sidewall of a bathtub; (b) a seat located above said support structure and having horizontal swivel means connecting the seat to the support structure; (c) means on said leg means for holding said support structure stabilized around said bathtub sidewall while said seat is in use.
 2. The bathing apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for stabilizing the support structure comprise legs that extend part way down each side of the sidewall of the bathtub and clamp the sidewall of the bathtub.
 3. The method of bathing a person in a bathtub that comprises the steps of; a. providing a horizontally rotatable seat directly above a sidewall of a bathtub so that a person may sit down on said seat with their legs extending toward the floor; b. seating a person on said seat so that the person is facing away from the bathtub with their legs extending downwardly from said seat; c. raising the person's legs so that they are above the uppermost portion of the sidewall of the bathtub; d. rotating the seat horizontally about a substantially vertical axis so that the feet are positioned above the inside of the bathtub; e. lowering the person's feet so that they hang downwardly on the inside of the bathtub; f. bathing the person while on said seat; g. lifting the person's feet so that they are above the uppermost level of the sidewall of the bathtub; h. rotating the seat so that the person's legs are above the floor of the bathroom outside of the tub; i. lowering said feet so that they extend towards the floor of the bathroom. 